Speaking volumes: Celebrate 90 years of Mickey Mouse at your local Manatee library
America’s favorite mouse, Mickey, is officially a nonagenarian.
Nov. 18 marks the 90th anniversary of Mickey Mouse’s first appearance in the Disney short, “Steamboat Willie.”
Though he is instantly recognizable and well-beloved in his current incarnation, Mickey originally took the form of another precocious character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
In 1927, Charles Mintz of Universal Studios approached Walt Disney with a special request: create a loveable animated character that can cut through the mass of other characters and become an icon. The result of this was a character, designed by Disney’s top animator Ub Iwerks, named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Oswald enjoyed initial popularity in several animated shorts and comics. Just as it seemed that Oswald would be the launching pad for Disney’s long-term success, Mintz, who was unhappy with Disney’s high production costs, hired away all of Disney’s animators.
The only animator who refused to leave Disney was Iwerks. The rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit belonged to Universal Studios, so in one devastating blow, Disney lost his newly popular character and most of his animators.
This could have easily prevented the Walt Disney Company from becoming the household name it is today. However, Disney and Iwerks instead combined their creative brains and developed a new character named Mickey Mouse.
Mickey Mouse inherited many of the characteristics of Oswald, down to the two button trousers and oversized white gloves. His iconic appearance in “Steamboat Willy” was even more unique because of the animated short’s use of synchronized sound, which was still a new and underutilized technology.
Mickey Mouse skyrocketed into fame and into the hearts of children across the country, while poor Oswald faded into history. Mickey’s popularity has only grown over the past 90 years, and he shows no indication of retiring any time soon. If you ask the mouse himself to what he attributes his lasting youth, he’d likely report laughter, magic, and a sprinkle of pixie dust.
To learn more about the man behind the mouse and the creation of the Walt Disney Company, our collection has the documentary “Walt Disney: He Made Believe.” A fictionalized version of the creation of Mickey Mouse can be viewed in “Walt Before Mickey.”
Those with an interest in gardening should check out “Disney’s Gardening with Mickey.” Learn gardening basics and get tips on an array of topics ranging from container gardens to hanging baskets. This book features gardening ideas from the Walt Disney theme parks and resorts.
Our children’s collection offers an abundance of Mickey Mouse material. Choose from our selection of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVDs, or take a look at the graphic novel “Mickey Mouse and the World to Come.”
From our digital collection on Hoopla you can peruse our Mickey Mouse eComics, or view the documentary “The Hand Behind the Mouse: the Ub Iwerks Story.” Ask a librarian for help accessing our digital materials.
All these titles can be accessed through the Manatee County library system found at mymanatee.org/library.
Bethany Stevens is a staff member at the Braden River Library. Speaking Volumes, written by Manatee County Public Library System staff members, is published each Sunday in the Bradenton Herald.